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Leaving pack lands is laughably casy with Evan by my side, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s laughing at me in his head for overreacting to his blacked–out getup.
There’s no one around to care, much less notice us.
The dented blue Toyota looks like freedom on four wheels. It’s just one of the many cars parked here, but it’s my gateway to a new life..
“Do you have the keys?” I ask, standing by the locked passenger door.
Evan dangles them from his finger. “What, you think I’d walk us out here without them?”
He slides into the driver’s seat, and I fold myself into the passenger side. The seats are clean and well–maintained, and it smells like French fries inside.
“There’s a blanket in the back seat, if you
you want it.”
A blanket in this weather? But I realize why he offers when he cranks the AC as high as it goes. Once it kicks in, I’m going to turn into a human ice cube.
When Evan turns the key in the ignition, my heart stops, wondering if someone’s going to come running and ask why we’re in the car.
But no one comes.
I’m still tired from Xander waking me up earlier, but napping isn’t an option. Gripping my scat belt, I stare out the window with wide eyes, intent on watching every minute.
I’m in the car because it’s the easiest way out of the Blue Mountain Pack’s territory, but there’s still no guarantee Evan isn’t going to deliver me straight into the hands of Nora’s father. There’s a point when the rural road leading to pack lands joins with the highway; if he goes left, he’s taking me to Forest Springs,
Right? Sterling City.
Evan’s profile gives nothing away. The moonlight catches on the angles of his face, shadows pooling beneath his cheekbones. After the past few days, he looks suddenly very young to me. Much younger than Asher or the Lycan Beta, and with only a fraction of their confidence.
His fingers tap an uneven rhythm against the steering wheel. Is that nervousness? Guilt? Or just a habit?
Paranoia blooms in the silence of our ride, not even broken by the radio. I guess Evan prefers to
drive in silence.
The closer we get to the highway, the tighter the grip on my seatbelt. My breath catches in my throat. I’ve prepared myself for the worst–to fling myself from the moving car if necessary.
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It feels like hours have passed, but the city isn’t that far
The turn signal clicks. Right.
Sterling City.
The breath I’ve been holding escapes in a soft rush. My shoulders drop an inch as we merge onto the highway, the needle on the speedometer climbing steadily.
Evan glances over. “You okay?”
Moonlight bleeds through the windows, casting his familiar features in an unfamiliar glow. For a heartbeat, I see the boy I grew up with, not the wolf who’d snarled at me in the forest.
“I’m great. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far.”
“I told you, everyone’s busy. The Alpha succession isn’t really a voluntary event.”
The highway is filled with cars, even at this time of night. We’re just one of many. Even if someone’s looking for us, it won’t be easy to find a single car among so many.
Silence falls between us again.
“Why are you helping me?”
Evan keeps his eyes on the road. “You really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”
He sighs, a long exhale that seems to deflate him. “Because what they did to you was wrong. What Xander did was wrong.”
I stare at his profile, searching for the lic. “You never liked me.”
“I never said I didn’t like you.”
“You didn’t have to. It was pretty clear.”
Evan’s mouth twists. “It wasn’t about liking or not liking you, Violet”
“Then what was it about?”
His shoulders rise and fall. “Does it matter now?”
“Yes. I’m surprised by how much it matters, suddenly,
The road hums beneath us. A semi–truck passes in the opposite direction, its headlights briefly illuminating the car’s interior in harsh white light. I catch the conflict on Evan’s face before darkness reclaims him.
“I kept my distance because Xander asked me to, he finally says. “In the beginning”
“What? Why would he-”
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“Because I liked you too much. He says it casually, like commenting on the weather, but his grip on the steering wheel tightens. “Back when you first came to the pack. Xander noticed before I even said anything
The confession lands like a stone in still water, ripples of implication spreading outward. I
struggle to reorganize my memories around this new information, trying to make sense of years of perceived indifference.
“You’re lying.
“Why would I lie about that?” A humorless laugh escapes him. “It wasn’t a big deal. Just a stupid crush. But Xander… His voice hardens. “Xander made it clear you were off–limits.”
I think back to all those times Evan avoided me, how he’d leave rooms when I entered, the careful distance he maintained. I’d interpreted it as disdain–the same disdain most of the pack felt toward me.
“You could have just told me.
“What would have been the point? You only had eyes for him.”
The truth of that statement stings more than it should. I turn toward the window. “So all those times you were cold to me-”
“Self–preservation.” The corner of his mouth lifts in a wry smile. “Being around someone you want but can’t have isn’t exactly fun.”
A road sign flashes by–Sterling City, 7 miles.
“And now?”
“Now I’m helping an old friend escape a bad situation.” His tone is deliberately light. “Or trying to, anyway.”
I study his profile, seeing him–really seeing him–for perhaps the first time. The slight bump in his nose from when Xander broke it during training. The small scar above his right eyebrow. Freckles. His face has been background noise in my life for years.
It doesn’t feel like the full story behind this person named ‘Evan, but it’s a piece of it. One I never knew before.
“I’m sorry, I say, meaning it. “For not seeing.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. He shrugs. “We don’t get to choose who we fall for.”
The irony of his statement isn’t lost on me–not with Xander and Nora and their fated bond, and not with whatever strange pull exists between me and the Lycan King.
“No, I agree softly. “We don’t.”
The car cats up the miles, the highway empty except for the occasional truck. I notice Evan
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checking the rearview mirror more frequently now.
“Do you think they’ll come after us?” I ask.
His expression darkens. “Eventually. But the ceremony will keep them busy until morning at
least.
Uneasy, I shift in my seat. Asher was so quick to murder people; what’s he going to do when he realizes I’m missing? Hopefully nothing. I’m a human, going back to humans. This should be a good thing for everyone.
“And then what?” I ask.
Evan’s eyes meet mine briefly. “Then you start over. Become whoever you want to be.”
It sounds so simple when he says it, so possible. A clean slate. A human life.
I lean my head against the cool glass of the window, watching the mile markers slip past. Sterling City grows closer with each moment–and with it, the promise of freedom.
But from the way Evan keeps checking the mirrors, I know we’re not free yet.
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